Van Alstyne (Jack) Papers, 1985-2012

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Scope and content:: Jack Van Alstyne (1938-2024) was a San Francisco-based street photographer. The collection includes photographs by various photographers printed in the San Francisco Sentinel in the 1980s; and posters and ephemera, primarily promoting gay and leather events in 1980s and 1990s San Francisco. Also included is an artist’s scrapbook, artwork, and photographs belonging to Van Alstyne’s roommate Keith O’Bea. The collection additionally includes Van Alstyne's detailed diaries with entries and attached photographs, spanning 1985 and 2012, that document Van Alstyne’s sexual encounters with people he identifies as “homeless straight men” in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. The diaries are closed to researchers until 2037. Please contact the Archivist for additional information. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
Acquisition information:: Gift of Jack Van Alstyne, July 2012.

Collection Guide Author:: Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff.
Date Prepared:: 1985-2012
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:: Van Alstyne’s diaries (boxes 1 and 2) are closed to researchers until 2037. Please contact the Archivist for additional information. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Copyright to material has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist.

Location of this collection:: GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, CA 94103, US